CraftyGrrrl.ca

That’s the theory I’m running with.

My school break was not the restfull break I was hoping for. The plan was to pick up some extra shifts at work, go through my clothes to sort out what fits and what is too big, donate the too big clothes and to get a bunch of WIPs off the needles, crochet hooks and looms. Due to Mother Nature having a sick sense of humour, only some of that was accomplished and relaxation became an abstract concept as we had carpenter bees munching the house (they were chemically evicted) and the basement flood with (thank the Gods) rainwater during a particularly heavy rain storm which led to a two day clean up. I may have done some heavy drinking and heavy petting of some of the finer examples of yarn in my stash to keep me sane…

In hindsight, I have taken these events to be blessings in disguise (or something along those lines) as particularly in the case of the flooding, it led to a bout of decluttering as a dumpster was required. Now that the house is a bit less cluttered, I’m a bit less edgy…but am still longing for a studio to set up my looms (yes, plural, DON”T JUDGE ME!!!!) with shelving to hold the stash, making it easier to find what I need when the fancy hits.

Amidst all this chaos I did manage to get two projects off their respective tools. The Colonnade shawl from the previous post and this little number came off my Cricket loom:

The yarn is Noro Sekku that Abi and Liam gave me for a birthday gift. Although I love the effect of the yarn, in the future I wouldn’t use it for warp as the less spun parts tended to drift apart under the tension of the warp due to the silk and cotton being slippy type fibers without much give. Have a bunch of Noro Kureyon Sock I’m going to experiemnt with next as I have a theory that the wool will create a stickier yarn with a bit more elasticity.

Breakage issues aside, I do love this scarf and look forward to wearing it out as a rustic accessory once this heat wave has broke!

Wow! I knew that my returning to school would have a detrimental effect on my knitting…but really!

Come to think of it, this may have been a rather prolific year, for the smaller projects. I’ll have to do a head count at some point.

Anyhoo…I’ve got me a lovely new shawl!

Colonnade from Fall 2009 Knitty.com
Knit out of Malabrigo Silky in the Stonechat colourway.

Loves it! Although it has recently dawned on my that Stonechat is my junior high and Chris’ high school’s colours…how odd. Wonder if I could count it towards that failed 7-shawl challenge I tried a few years ago?

Colonnade will have its first outing this Saturday night at a dear friends wedding…there is going to be a midnight poutine bar at this little do! How very Canadian and civilized, because really what could be better than to serve a slightly tipsy, dance crazed hoard at midnight!?!

I love my bikes, I don’t ride it as much as I like but MAN! DO I LOVE MY BIKES! I love going out with my kids on the bike even more!

I have this plan to cycle more once I’m done with school and, fingers crossed, have a job that is a decent bike commute. My vision involves me riding the kids over to daycare then heading off to my work on two wheels. But there is a slight snag I have hit…the kids are really getting a bit too long for the trailer and with leg space at a premium, squabbles are becoming an issue which makes riding a less than pleasant adventure. I need an alternative plan, sooner rather than later so the hunt was ON!

There are a tonne of options for carrying one child, there are options for carrying two smaller kids, but once you get to the stage my kids are at, things get a bit tricky and expensive. If we were in Denmark or Holland, there would be more options avaliable to me…I’m very jealous of both their cycling infrastructure and Family Bike designs.

Ideally if $ were not an issue I would love to get a Bakfiets

(image from Workcycle website)

Or a Moederfiets style bike like the PackMax Duo,

(image from De Fietsfabriek website)

or a Surly Big Dummy complete build with a Peapod LT for Mr. Liam & a Stoker Bar and Footsies for Mz. Abi from Xtracycle

(image from Surly website)

As all these setups would have run me clost to $4K, they are not viable options.

Next up for consideration were the Radish and Madsen bikes, both of which would have fit the bill but again the price tag and the fact that neither bike are avaliable in Canada so would require shipping form the US killed that option. I’m also not a fan of buying a bike without being able to test ride it.

My quest to have both kids ride with me was looking like it either wasn’t going to happen or would be a serious hit to the pocket book! I sat down and looked at what biking I was going to be doing with the kids to get a better idea what would be the best for that situation; essentially I would be riding three blocks to daycare with the kids, not a huge haul. Abi has a bike of her own which she loves to ride but she is still too small for keeping up on the big long hauls. I also really didn’t need the cargo carrying capacity, I have a seperate trailer for that. So after some more research I came to the conclusion that ideal solution would be to have Mr. Liam in a childseat on the back of Neville (who has had some mods since that photo was taken, must get an updated one for ya’ll) and to find some sort of “third wheel” set up for Mz. Abi…the bike seat was easy to find, the option for Abi…not so much. All the third wheel options for children in North America attach to the seat post of the parent bike, thereby making the use of a child seat impossible. There had to be a solution! Turns out there was and like all well thought out family biking ideas it came from Europe, the FollowMe Tandem!

(image from Clever Cycles website)

This thing is brilliant and perfect for my needs! By the time Abi has out grown the need for it Mr Liam will be ready to graduate from the seat to his own bike! The only problem I have encountered is that Clever Cycles in Portland is the only place I can find them for sale in North America. So I’ll be watching the exchange rate like a hawk all summer and saving up so we’ll be ready for our fall commute convoy.

I’m so thrilled to have found the solution I was hoping for and it won’t kill the pocket book! Both kids love going for bike rides and it gives me that hope that they will grow up to be life long cyclists, now if only our city would get on with being civilized and get some logical bike lane action like they have in Copenhagen!

I mentioned in the previous post that I have partially resumed photography. I say partially because time restraints have kept me from really going at it.

I’ve shot a few rolls of film and have to say…I find it very hard to go back to digital, there is just something about the photographs I get from my Rolleicord VB that make the digi images look flat in comparison.

Once I’m done with my program, I am going to take the only analogue photography cource in the city. All the other programs on offer have switched to digital format.

Yesterday marked the completion of my 35th year. It was a great day and I’m hoping it is indicative of the year to come!

After a week of a nasty stomach bug that *knock on wood* only affected Chris and Liam, I was thrilled to have a day to myself and it was made better by this rare solo day being my birthday.

Once the kids were deposited at daycare I came home, got dressed and went out.

Chris got me a new pair of Doc’s for my birthday gift; 20 hole-knee high’s. First sign that I’m getting old: my back cramped while lacing up the boots, good thing they have zippers in the side so I can avoid such  events in the futur! My dress is from my new favourite Etsy seller ellainaboutique.

The rest of the day was spent camera nerding. I have gone back to film photography and am loving it!!!! I bought a Rolleicord VB some time ago and cannot express how much fun this camera is! I have a firend who is a HUGE Rollei Fan and I blame him for my falling down the rabbit hole! I dare say he is a worse enabler than my yarn mates!

(Image totally ganked from the Rollei Club website)

So after a long day of camera nerding, I came home to have a wonderful dinner of portuguese chicken and an ice cream cake.

I’m on break from school for the next two weeks, so brace yourselves, there will be some more posts!

I have a new-to-me floor loom…and this time it has all the parts & it even works!

That right there is a Made In Canada 36″ LeClerc Artisat purchased from Michelle.

We’re talking 4 shafts of Jack Loom-y goodness that can (for a fee) be upgraded to 8 shafts!

It can fold up even smaller but with the two loom obsessed midgets who I live with, it was a bit too unstable and I had visions of one of them tipping it over and breaking my loom.

I’m very impatient for my current semester to be over so I’ll have two whole weeks free to get to know Edna II before I return for my final semester.

I have me some plans for this puppy! But first I need to learn how to warp it…will have to call in some experienced help for that.

As for Edna I, she’s currently in the garage. I would love to one day  get her properly assembled or find someone who can use her for parts.

Although, my Dad would take her in a flash, order the replacement parts and have himself a grand old time. He studied Engineering and I’ve discovered a lot of male weavers (an wheel builders, for that matter) have either studied or worked as engineers. I think there is something about the mechanics of the looms and the act of weaving that really appeals to their type of brain.

I had a paper due last night for my on-line English class…I completley forgot about it until a class mate sent me a text asking how it was going.

In short I was unable to pull that out of the bag. So very annoyed.

Am goingto be spendign my last day of my spring break workign to get ahead of the assignments so this doesn’t happen again.

It’s done and has been blocking for days!

Yarn: Briar Rose Dream Weaver

Pattern: Side-Way Ribs Cardigan by Norah Gaughan

Needles: Denise 11, used size 15 for the three needle bind off to avoid a tight seam.

Started it during my fall reading week & was 3/4 done when I went back to school 7 days later. Project was shelved while in school but was dusted off during the Christmas break where the knitting was completed and it was seamed twice both times to my complete dissatisfaction. I had plans to graft the two back pieces together but that became a HUGE FAIL!!! Determined to finish it before spring reading week was over I bit the bullet, tried a few bind off techniques and was finally mostly happy.

The yarn relaxed A LOT after blocking (or I could just be a way looser knitter than I thought!), we’re talking down to my knees, as it’s still damp I’m hoping it won’t be as long once completly dry…and if not whatever, I have a very lovely slouchy comfort cardi. Am tempted to put it in the dryer on low to speed up the drying process…but I think that would be tempting the Fiber Gods in ways that would end with me in tears!

Terribly sorry for not paying you any attention for what turns out to be the better part of a month. I’ve been a bit busy with “stuff”. What sort of “stuff” you ask?

Well let me give you the short list.

Aside from the whole school, home work stuff, I’ve been:

Knitting (rather unsuccessfully actually). In January I started a replacement Clapotis (my first one was felted, we no longer discuss it) using Dye-Version bamboo yarn in a wonderfull flame colours. We were knitting along happily till Winter decided to arrive in earnest so it was put aside for some utilitarian knitting. My head was cold, I needed a new hat. Pattern was chosen and yarn was found, knitting was commenced. I was destined to have the nerd-y-est head EVAH! But that arch enemy of all knitters; Gauge reared it’s ugly maw at me. My Scotty Hat was big enough for two if not three heads to fit in it. Frogging ensued while air went a few shaded of blue.  I have since restarted the hat but have switched to using Trekking for my pattern, things are working out much better and my head will be toasty warm just in time for Spring!

I have also bought a camera…and not just any camera. I bought a serious business TLR (Twin Lens Reflex)…specifically a Rolleicord VB. It will be here by months’ end. I’m terribly excited and am considering naming him Roland…because I’m allerative that way. Once school is done I plan to take the only non digital camera course avaliable in Toronto at Ryerson, so I can dust off my old and long forgotten camera skills as well as learn to use a dark room for something other than making out.

There has been no weaving or spinning, but I have been thinking about both a lot! I have me some bitchin’ plans, just as soon as I have a spare moment which may happen sooner than expected. The College Professors in Ontario are voting this coming Wednesday whether or not they will accept the latest contract offer from Management. If it’s rejected there will be a strike called 5 days later. So I may get some free time sooner than expected, but it will push back my graduation date which is somethign I’m not at all thrilled with.

Promise I will try to have some photos next post, it’s nice to have the visuals…

It appears that the scarf I wove for my Mum’s Christmas gift  is a huge success! She loves it, has recieved many compliments on it and at it’s most recent outing was asked if I do custom work.

This last bit got me thinking and wondering if this is a viable plan? Could I actually make and sell hand woven scarves and wraps? I’m not expecting this to become a full time gig that can support the household (although that would be lovely) but it would be great to have this little thing on the side that helpes me to burn through my stash and generates income that I can use for my hobby and make it possible to buy the loom of my dreams…

Will have to look into how to price the items as well as the whole business license thing (did this before when Chris started a small business) as well as the taxes and all that jazz…market research is another thing to look into. As for places to sell stuff: Toronto has a tonne of small shops that sell hand crafted goods on consignment as well as a bunch of great little craft fairs and of course there is ETSY.

There is a lot to consider and I must also be realistic about the time commitments and beign carefull to keep it fun and not have it becoem drudge work which I will  become resentfull of.